Honda Civic Hybrid 2004 review: road test

There has been more research, development and technology gone into this car than any other car on the road, except fellow hybrid, the Toyota Prius.

But unlike the Prius, the Civic is not overburdened with extras.

The Prius costs $37,990 for the "base" model and $46,090 for the "I Tech" model with all the bells and whistles.

The Civic costs just $29,990. For that you get two engines – one petrol and one electric. How many vehicles have two powertrains for the price of one?

The hybrid concept is that a petrol engine is assisted by an electric engine whose battery is recharged by the power of the wheels turning and the brakes working. There is no need to plug it in to recharge.

And when the vehicle is stopped at the traffic lights, the petrol engine switches off, saving you buckets of money on your fuel bill.

You can make petrol engines frugal, but the savings apply only when the engine is running.

The savings with a hybrid are not only when it is running and the electric motor assists, but mainly when the vehicle is stopped and the petrol engine switches off.

Here the biggest saving is around town, when the vehicle is frequently stopping. At least that is the theory.

In practice, this Civic Hybrid failed to work properly.

The electric engine cut in and assisted acceleration so that the instant fuel economy readouts never went north of about 12litres/100km even under heavy throttle.

However, the petrol engine failed to switch off when at rest.

There must have been some simple electronic fault because the economy switch on the airconditioning also failed to operate and when in this mode, the auto stop function is supposed to activate more frequently.

It is a shame, but were it working, it surely would have been a real fuel miser, although not as much as the Prius which can run up to 30km/h on just the electric motor.

But even operating in the assist and not auto-stop mode, the Honda's fuel needle hardly moved off full after several trips back and forth to the office.

Honda seems to have the right idea about building a hybrid to a budget. After all, a consumer who wants good fuel economy surely also wants a good value car, not necessarily something as accessory-packed and expensive as the Prius.

To this end, the Civic has no steering wheel controls, no cruise control, no traction control. But that does not mean it is a rent-a-car.

Like all Hondas I have ever driven, it is refined and of the highest build quality, although the interior is looking a little old-fashioned and the instruments are hard to read in bright sunshine.

It handles like a front-wheel-drive should. Not a lot of torque steer, not a lot of bonnet lift with light wheels spinning off the line.

It has good body balance and does what it is told.

Unfortunately, the 1.3-litre VTEC powerplant likes to rev with plenty of intrusive noise and not a lot of go-forward momentum.

It needs an update and a few more shovel-loads of torque.